The surprising truth about 4 big natural beauty myths

“Every woman can pretty easily name the ingredients in the food they eat,” says Alexis Krauss, the lead singer of the band Sleigh Bells and co-founder of Beauty Lies Truth. “But when I asked them to name ingredients in the products they use in the shower and on their face, they couldn’t name one thing,” Krauss said, during the Well+Good panel on Natural Beauty Disruptors at the Indie Beauty Expo.

While the sustainable beauty maven was referring to a very informal survey she and her blog co-founder Jessica Assaf did on the street, her findings don’t feel that far off for the rest of us. “The diligence we put into knowing what we’re eating still doesn’t totally apply to our approach to beauty products,” says Melisse Gelula, Well+Good’s co-founder and editorial director.

That’s why Gelula (a clean beauty expert in her own right) hand-picked some rockstars from the industry to talk about it (if you missed the panel, check it out on our Facebook!).

“The myth that non-toxic nail polishes don’t work and they don’t last. That’s simply not true.” —Nadine Abramcyk, co-founder of Tenoverten, the super chic nail salon in New York City, Los Angeles, and Austin

“That you have to go all-natural, makeup-free, and product-free to be [healthy] and consume well. You can still wear makeup and wear makeup onstage and be smart about what you’re putting on your face.” —Alexis Krauss, whose product collab Global Beauty Butter is helping women who make shea butter in Ghana

“That [skin care] has to be expensive.” —Adina Grigore, founder of S.W. Basics of Brooklyn, author of Skin Cleanse, and advocate of DIY beauty

“That all-natural perfumes smell the same. That’s a big one I hear a lot and I’m like, well, you’re just not paying attention. Because they don’t.” —Sarah Villafranco, MD, a former ER doctor who founded Osmia Organics

“And this isn’t busting a myth, but it’s definitely something we should remember: ‘You don’t need anything to be beautiful.'” —Melisse Gelula